Tied Up in Tinsel: Inspector Roderick Alleyn #27, Paperback/Ngaio Marsh

It's 1972, and while Elton John and Alice Cooper may be topping the charts, Inspector Alleyn's latest case is set in that most gloriously retro environment: The country-house party. A Christmas party, as it happens, where Agatha Troy is enjoying the local holiday pageant and also painting the host's portrait. The painting's coming along fine, but the pageant goes a little pear-shaped when one of the players disappears. Could one of the party's eccentric guests (are there any other kind?) have been involved? Or--perhaps more likely--could the finger of blame come to rest on one of the manor-house servants, each of whom happens to be a recent prison parolee? What luck Inspector Alleyn is on hand to wrap up the questions into the perfect Christmas parcel. About the Author: Ngaio Marsh was one of the celebrated queens of the golden age; she is the author of 32 novels in the "Inspector Alleyn" series. In addition to writing, her great passion was theater. She was born in New Zealand.